The Collect for The Last Sunday after the Epiphany - The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration

This Proper is always used on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday

O God,
who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain:
Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance,
may be strengthened to bear our cross,
and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.
(BCP 217)

Historical introduction

This Collect, as stated in the rubric, is always used for the last Sunday after the Epiphany, that is, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. Before the 1979 BCP, the Collect used on this Sunday was the Collect that we now pray on the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany.[1] This Collect was composed for the English Proposed BCP of 1928 as the Collect for the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, which, as Marion Hatchett notes, is the reading for the Gospel in all three years (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-9, and Luke 9:28-36).[2]

While the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord is on the Church Calendar as August 6, not every parish transfers this feast to a Sunday (we do, because of the name of our Parish – we always celebrate the Transfiguration on the first Sunday of August). So while we at Transfiguration Episcopal Church contemplate the Transfiguration twice each year, from two different perspectives (the two Collects are distinctly different), most parishes celebrate this moment in Jesus’ life only on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany.

The Preamble

The Preamble, “O God,” doesn’t tell us much about to whom we pray, but the Acknowledgement does.

The Acknowledgement

The Acknowledgement, “who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain,” provides both a historical orientation within Jesus’ life and connects the pattern of his life with ours in the Petition: before the journey to Jerusalem and bearing his cross, his glory, which is the glory of the Father’s only son (John 1:14, John 17:5), was revealed.

The Petition

The Petition, “Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory,” asks four things, two of which are explicit in the Petition and two that are implied:

The first request is implied or assumed: that, with the eyes of our faith, we will see what Peter, James, and John saw on the mountain—the light of Jesus’ countenance. Countenance, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, can mean “the face as an indication of mood, emotion, or character” or “bearing or expression that offers approval or sanction: moral support” (See Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Given the second request (that is, the first explicit request), the meaning of “the light of his countenance” can support the weight of the understanding that we are not only assuming that with the eyes of faith that we will see the dazzling appearance of Jesus, but that what we see will provide us with moral support.
We ask that we will be strengthened to bear our cross—that by seeing Jesus’ glory, we will be empowered to endure each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), including persecutions for the sake of Jesus (Matthew 5:10-12; Mark 10:28-31).
We ask that we will be transformed into the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29, 1 John 3:2), from glory to greater glory (2 Corinthians 3:18),
The second implicit request, which might be better taken as an implicit Aspiration, is that the pattern of our life be like Jesus’. As Jesus set his face toward the suffering that was before him, it seems to me that his Transfiguration served him as an assurance that he was doing what he was asked to do for the sake of the world. We ask for the vision of Jesus in his glory not for our sake, but so that we might be strengthened to follow in his footsteps and bear the cross allotted to the Church as part of God’s plan to redeem and restore all of creation (Romans 8:18-23; see also Catechism: The Church, BCP 855).

The Pleading

The season of Epiphany both begins and ends with the two events that the Church has understood as the revelation of the Holy Trinity: both at Jesus’ baptism and at his Transfiguration, the Spirit is seen as either descending like a dove or hovering as a glorious cloud that overshadowed Jesus and the Father’s voice is heard. The typical Pleading, “through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen,” reminds us that we ask that this Petition be accomplished through the unity of the Holy Trinity for the glory of the Holy Trinity.

For your consideration:

As a denomination and as a parish, what is the cross we are asked to bear? How has bearing this cross changed us into the likeness of Christ? How is the pandemic changing how we bear this cross?

When and how are you best able to see the light of Jesus’ countenance with the eyes of your faith? What is an example of how we have been changed into the likeness of Christ, from glory to glory, in our life together as a parish?

Note: The season after the Epiphany begins on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6 (which is 12 days after Christmas Day), and ends on Ash Wednesday, which is the Wednesday that is 47 days before Easter Day. Because Sundays are little Easters, they are not included in the count of the 40 days of Lent. Note that the week beginning with The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday and ending with Holy Saturday, while being counted as part of the 40 days of Lent, is also its own liturgical season in our 1979 BCP: Holy Week (See BCP 31-32).

Want to know more about the Collect format or this series of meditations? You can find that information here.

[1] Marion J. Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book, (New York: Harper Collins, 1995), 173.

[2] Hatchett, 173.